If you do not ask yourself what it is you know, you will go on listening to others, and change will not come because you will not hear your own truth. -- Saint Bartholomew
I suffer from long, heavy periods. Menstrual migraines and sciatic pain down my right leg often accompany them. They start with a few days of spotting and eventually transition to a few days of heavy clotting. Roughly half of every month I'm bleeding. (January 2020's period lasted from the 18th to the 30th.) So when my new gynecologist mentioned an exam I've never had to try to figure out what's going on with my cycles, I said to schedule it without hesitation.
The procedure is called a Saline Infusion Sonohysterography (SIS). It's an ultrasound done while sterile saline is slowly injected into the uterus. It enables the uterine cavity to widen, making it easier to view abnormalities.
I had the SIS on February 6th. Totally spaced taking ibuprofen beforehand as instructed. There was a sign in the room that said recording wasn't allowed. (That sucked because I wanted the images for this post.) The ultrasound tech had me pee into a cup to do a pregnancy test since they don't do the SIS if you're pregnant. She took several images and measurements on the screen. This was the normal vaginal ultrasound portion of the procedure.
We waited a few minutes for the doctor to finish up with another patient before doing the second part. The pictures taken by the tech were on screen for a comparison. Then came time for the sample to be taken for the biopsy....
I thought it was bad when the doctor snipped off the polyp during my annual exam. OMG it was so much worse with her trying to get the tissue for the biopsy! The doctor struggled to get the sample for some reason. So I was squeezing the life out of the ultrasound tech and intern's hands with every scrape or whatever the doctor was doing to get it. They were surprised that I wasn't screaming or cursing from the pain. They describe the pain as something similar to cramps. I'm sorry but wasn't how mine feel! After getting dressed again I waddled out to my car like an old woman. Ended up sitting in my car with the heat blasting for about an hour before everything subsided enough for me to drive.
There was a sign on the monitor in the room that recordings weren't allowed so I asked afterwards if I could get a copy of the images to share. Either they don't know how to convert them to a normal image file or their software doesn't allow it.
We have not had any luck with getting images. I have asked for access to the program to be able to view the images when needed or load them to a patient's chart as well. At this time I was also told that if we print the images that they will be black and not readable since we don't have a color copier. If there any more questions about this I can get you in contact with management.
I had fibroids when I first went to a GYN (2007-ish) but they had disappeared by the next ultrasound. What was never noticed before was the possible adenomyosis, which is like endometriosis but the cells are growing INSIDE instead of OUTSIDE the uterus. The doctor said the two are treated the same but the only true way to diagnose adenomyosis is through a hysterectomy.
I knew there was a problem but had no idea what the cause was. My truth is now known and I'm not willing to give in and resort to hormonal birth control or major surgery to deal with this diagnosis. So I am on a quest to find alternative treatments to deal with the symptoms of adenomyosis. If you have found something that works for you, please contact me; I'd like to share your story (if you're OK with that) along with trying it out for myself.
